NEW PALESTINE–For a few moments in the third quarter, the bleachers behind the visitor bench were loud and the hometown side was in a state of silent shock. Pendleton Heights had scored consecutive touchdowns and appeared to be challenging mighty New Palestine with upset on their minds.
But with a 40-game regular season winning streak on the line, the Dragons answered and showed why they are a state title contender year after year.
Luke Canfield rushed for 310 yards and four touchdowns, including two within a three-minute span to break open a close game, as New Palestine took control of the Hoosier Heritage Conference race with a 41-21 win over Pendleton Heights.
It was the first loss of the season for the Arabians, who dropped to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play while the Dragons improved to 5-0 and 3-0.
Trailing 21-0 at halftime, the Arabians drove 73 yards in 11 plays to get on the board to start the second half. Junior quarterback Christian Conkling converted two third and eight situations on the drive, one on a 44-yard pass play to Andrew Jamison and another himself on an 11-yard run to set up his own three-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 21-7.
“What I liked was that our kids were competing,” coach Jed Richman said. “You saw a quarterback (Conkling) leading his team on our side. You saw guys rallying around him. We just have to do that from the beginning.”
The Arabians got a break on the ensuing kickoff, when Thomas Quiroga’s kick dropped untouched and was recovered by Eli Pancol to set up the Pendleton Heights offense at the New Palestine 25-yard line.
Facing a fourth and 14, Conkling found Pancol for 28 yards to set up the Arabians with a first and goal at the one. Two plays later, Conkling scored for the second time in less than three minutes on a one-yard run bring Pendleton Heights to within 21-14.
But Canfield, who had two TD runs in the first half, capped the next two Dragon possessions with scoring runs of 33 and 3 yards to give New Palestine some breathing room. Josh Glover added a later Dragon touchdown for a 41-14 advantage.
Conkling combined with Pancol for the final points of the game with just 32 seconds remaining. Pancol caught Conkling’s pass in traffic, broke free, and outran the Dragon defense for the touchdown.
Where the Arabians struggled mightily was in the ground game. Pendleton Heights rushed for a net of -23 yards, thanks in large part to six sacks and a bad snap on a first half Arabian punt. Richman said the New Palestine defense is the biggest strength of the team.
“The way they gap exchange with their nose (tackle) and middle linebacker gave us fits all night,” he said. “That’s where we have to continue to get better.”
The Arabians will now turn their attention to a fourth consecutive HHC foe when they travel to Mt. Vernon Friday night. Richman expects a tough battle, but says the way his team played against the powerhouse Dragons can only continue to feed the optimism around the Arabian program.
“We’re gonna get better this week,” he said. “We’ve got a rivalry week with Mt. Vernon and they got us twice last week, but you can throw the records out the window. We’re making strides. I am very proud of our effort. We got better this week, this game has to make us better.”